The San Antonio Spurs tied for the best record in the NBA with the Chicago Bulls at 61-22. Through the 82 game season, the Spurs finished at number one in local television ratings according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

In a comparison of local TV packages, the Jazz (who averaged a 5.6 rating on ROOT Sports) were second only to the team with the best record in the league. The San Antonio Spurs averaged a 10.1 local rating on Fox Sports Southwest, up a whopping 52 percent over the 2009-10 season.

In 2009-10, the Spurs finished as the seventh seed in the Western Conference. A jump of 52 percent in local ratings is very evident due to the success the team had being the number one seed throughout the 10-11′ season.

With the blockbuster additions of LeBron James and Chris Bosh to the Miami Heat, the Heat were able to jump to third place in local television ratings.

(Ratings are a percentage of the households in a given TV market. And the size of TV markets varies greatly — 1,580,580 homes in Miami; 953,950 in Salt Lake; 844,910 in San Antonio.)

Be proud Spurs fans, you were there to support the team every night whether it was a major network game against the Los Angeles Lakers or low level game on local television against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Sean Elliot and Bill Land also deserve some credit as they anchored the majority of the games on local television. Former Spur Malik Rose also covered the games in place of Elliot throughout the season.

About Paul Garcia

Paul is a San Antonio Spurs credentialed media member for Project Spurs. He covered the 2013 NBA All-Star Game in Houston, TX, and the 2013 and 2014 NBA Finals. Paul has been featured on WOAI, Fox 29, and numerous nationwide radio shows.